That's right, on 1 March 1972 I opened the Solo factory branch in Ulm city centre. Ten years later, I was offered the opportunity to take over the branch and decided to do so. From this point onwards, I continued to run the newly founded company "Paulitschek Motorgeräte" as an independent businessman in the form of a Solo general agency and thus exclusively sold Solo products. At that time, the product range consisted of power tools for forestry and gardening. In addition to the classic retail business in Radgasse in Ulm, I also supplied resellers in the Ulm district and neighbouring districts as a wholesaler. In addition to the Solo products, we already had wear parts and consumables in our range at that time that were not manufactured by Solo. So I had to buy these separately, usually in small quantities and therefore at high prices. This was not only the case for me, but also for other colleagues who had taken over a Solo branch. This situation gave us the idea of pooling our resources and purchasing these wear parts and machine accessories together. The aim was to be able to order larger quantities and thus achieve more attractive prices. In the beginning, we were just a loose community that met regularly and exchanged ideas. As our purchasing volume grew, the question of a name for our community arose in 1988 and we called ourselves the "Süddeutsche Motoristenvereinigung", or"SÜMO" for short. From this point onwards, we appeared together as SÜMO, visited trade fairs at home and abroad and purchased more and more products as a group. As this approach proved to be very successful, we founded the cooperative "Süddeutsche Motoristenvereinugung eG" on 24 October 1992, which was finally entered in the register of cooperatives in 1993. My wife Christine Paulitschek took over the management of the office. In addition to Solo products, there was also a great demand from my customers at the time for machines from other manufacturers. For this reason, I decided to include products from other renowned garden tool manufacturers such as Sabo, Honda, Husqvarna, Stihl, Viking, Wolf and Toro in the range. In the course of expanding the range to include these additional products, Puch mopeds, mopeds and scooters were also added to the range and became an important part of our offering. For this reason, the company "Paulitschek Motorgeräte" no longer acted as a Solo general agency from 1984 onwards, but remained associated with Solo Kleinmotoren GmbH as a factory representative. Due to the steady growth, I transformed the company into "Paulitschek Motorgeräte-Vertriebs GmbH" in 1990, which still exists today - in the meantime, however, under the name "Paulitschek Maschinen- und Warenvertriebsgesellschaft mbH". Over the years, the premises in Ulm city centre became too small and because the area around our business was increasingly becoming a residential area due to redevelopment work, our customers could no longer easily reach us by car. For this reason, we started looking for a plot of land to expand the company and found what we were looking for in the neighbouring Bavarian town of Neu-Ulm in 1997. After a short construction phase, we were able to move into the new company headquarters at Zeppelinstraße 3 in Neu-Ulm in 1998. SÜMO also moved into the new premises together with our company. To this day, this location is the headquarters of both paulimot and SÜMO, although several structural extensions have taken place in the meantime.

The sale of power tools was a highly competitive market. When other wholesalers and discounters began to offer these products alongside DIY stores, we thought about how we could build up an additional pillar in the long term. One of the ideas was to sell small but high-quality machines - such as lathes and milling machines, drills and band saws - in order to appeal to upmarket DIY enthusiasts and modellers. This made sense, not least because I had originally learnt the trade of toolmaker and was therefore familiar with these machines. The next question was where we could source such machines. To this end, I travelled to China for the first time in 2005 to visit trade fairs and manufacturers there and find out more. The range on offer was unimaginably large and I was able to gather an incredible number of impressions and make my first contacts. By chance, I came into contact with a mechanical engineer who worked in sales of metalworking machines, who answered all our questions reliably and quickly and with whom a possible collaboration seemed very promising. We placed our first machine order in China through her and she is still our local agent and business partner today. Since then, I have regularly travelled to China two or three times a year to visit the factories that manufacture our products. The original idea was to sell the metalworking machines and tools alongside the garden tools. However, as we quickly realised how much time and effort it takes to sell the lathes, milling machines and other metalworking products and to build up an attractive range of tools, we decided to concentrate entirely on this area. Not least because we were able to realise ourselves much better here and contribute our ideas to the further development of the products.

Together with our Chinese business partner, we visit the factories where our products are manufactured. We don't sell a product without knowing where it is made or having visited the factory. So I have now seen hundreds of factories in China. Through these visits, we ensure the quality of the products manufactured to our specifications and also discuss new development ideas. We also visit trade fairs and generally maintain contacts and partnerships with our suppliers. In addition to the purely business aspect, we consider this personal dialogue to be very important. Over the years, we have not only developed stable and trusting business relationships, but also friendships. I am always accompanied on my trips by my son and Managing Director, Dr Patrick Paulitschek, and alternately by my daughter and Managing Director, Simone Paulitschek, or my son-in-law and Head of the Technology and Logistics team, Frank Schlögel.

A lot of things really are different in China. It starts with the negotiation methods and tactics and doesn't end with the incredible size of the country and the individual cities or the differences in the food. In all these years, I believe that we have managed - not least thanks to the support of our Chinese partner - to create mutual understanding for the different cultures and behaviours and thus facilitate harmonious coexistence. I think it is very important to treat each other with respect and to accept differences. If this is the case, the most important prerequisite for successful cooperation has been created.

When we initially expanded our range in 2004 to include metalworking machines, it was clear to us from the outset that we wanted to sell these products under our own brand. The chosen brand "paulimot" is derived from the name of the company at the time, "Paulitschek Motorgeräte". Today, "paulimot" stands for machines and tools that are manufactured in the Far East, but often stand out from the mass market in terms of their quality or special features.

What significant experiences and milestones do you remember since the company was founded?

A lot has happened since 1972, of course, but I can emphasise three milestones in particular. Firstly, the merger of the former Solo general agencies, from which SÜMO later emerged. For me, it was a very important step to act as a community and make decisions together that would benefit both the individual members and the community as a whole. Even though we no longer sell garden technology products today, we are still connected in many ways to SÜMO, which has now grown to over 230 member companies nationwide. A second milestone in the history of paulimot was certainly the decision to change the product range and concentrate entirely on the sale of metal and woodworking machines and tools and to sell the products under our own brand "paulimot". Even if the further development of the products often requires a lot of work and coordination with suppliers, the joy is all the greater when a high-quality product is created at the end of the process and is well received by customers. The third important milestone for me is that my children have decided to take over and continue the company.

That's a good keyword: you have now handed over the company to your two children. You still work here yourself and, in addition to you and your children, your wife and son-in-law also work in the company. What does it mean to you that the company is still family-run?

I am aware that this is not a matter of course and it is all the nicer for me that my children have decided to take this step. The handover was not difficult for me. On the contrary, it was a stroke of luck for me to be able to pass on the company I built up within the family. Today, my wife and I provide support wherever we can and are on hand to offer advice whenever we are needed. Of course, there are things that are done differently today than in the past and we don't always agree on everything. But I have complete faith in my children that they will continue to run the company successfully. When I look back at the beginnings, it's a great feeling that the company is now an employer for more than 40 employees and that everyone can work together in a friendly atmosphere. For me personally, it feels like since 1 March 1972, I have never done just one day's work, but have always been able to do what I enjoyed. And to see how paulimot has developed so far and continues to grow under the leadership of my children makes me very proud and happy.